Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Position in Rambus, Inc. $RMBS

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Rambus by 3.2% in Q4, selling 410,844 shares and still owning 12,290,929 shares (about an 11.42% stake) valued at roughly $1.13 billion.
• Rambus beat quarterly estimates with $0.63 EPS vs. $0.61 expected and $180.19M revenue, and carries a MarketBeat consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $130.43 price target.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently: the CFO and CEO sold shares and insiders disposed of 61,123 shares worth about $6.3 million in the last 90 days, leaving insiders owning 0.75% of the stock.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in Rambus, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,290,929 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 410,844 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.42% of Rambus worth $1,129,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Rambus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Rambus by 199.0% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Rambus by 126.7% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 442 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Rambus in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Rambus by 83.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.54% of the company's stock.

Rambus Price Performance

RMBS opened at $111.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $103.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.58. Rambus, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.29 and a 1 year high of $161.80. The stock has a market cap of $12.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.30 and a beta of 1.79.

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. Rambus had a net margin of 31.90% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $180.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.94 million. Equities analysts expect that Rambus, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RMBS shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Rambus from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Rambus in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded Rambus to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Rambus from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on Rambus in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $130.43.

Insider Transactions at Rambus

In other news, CFO Desmond Lynch sold 4,273 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.53, for a total transaction of $433,837.69. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 63,618 shares in the company, valued at $6,459,135.54. This trade represents a 6.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Luc Seraphin sold 5,426 shares of Rambus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.65, for a total value of $470,162.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 345,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,960,710.55. This represents a 1.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 61,123 shares of company stock valued at $6,295,577 in the last ninety days. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Rambus

Rambus Inc is a technology licensing company specializing in semiconductor and system-level interface solutions. Founded in 1990 by Stanford University researchers Mike Farmwald and Mark Horowitz, Rambus established its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. The company initially gained prominence by developing high-speed DRAM interface technology and securing a broad patent portfolio covering memory architecture, data signaling and power management innovations.

Today, Rambus licenses its proprietary intellectual property (IP) to semiconductor companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system integrators worldwide.

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